Sunday, May 20, 2012

Zim Israel Navigation Company

The Zim Israel Narrative.

Zim was incorporated in 1945 and bought its first ship in 1947. [6] In 1953, under the German reparations program, Zim purchased 36 modern ships and launched a successful passenger line as well. Passenger services were ceased once air travel took over the market. [18] The shipping line got its start carrying about 1 million Jewish refugees from Europe to Israel. [2]

The Israeli government, owns 48.6 percent of the company, but "is planning to sell its share." [9/04/11 Knight-Rider] "The government in July accepted four undisclosed bids from private companies. It is expected to allow the top bidder to start performing due diligence, allowing the potential acquirer to study financial data, later this month." [6] The majority stake belongs to Israel Corp., a large Israeli holding company controlled by the Ofer Brothers Group, a privately held Israeli conglomerate. [6]

However, "[a]ny buyer would have to agree to let the Israeli government commandeer the fleet in the event of war." [6]

In the February 26, 2003, Jerusalem Post, Zim completes $650 m. ship acquisition, it was announced that "Zim Israel Navigation, jointly owned by the government and holding company Israel Corp," completed a $650 million plan to acquire 13 new container vessels from South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries. Zim said the first of six ships were supplied during 2002, an additional one will be delivered in 2004, and the final vessel at the start of 2005. The new ships will replace Zim's current fleet of 15 ships. [18]

Apparently, Zim-Israel had been an original tenant in the North Tower. "We stayed more than 25 years at the same building in New York," Kaplan said." [2] or, alternately, "After 30 years in one of the twin towers..." [10]

"Based at the trade center since the early 1970s, the Zim-American corporate office was experiencing a rise in workforce costs. Rising rent wasn't an immediate concern---several years remain on the lease-although it was expected to increase in the future." [3]

According to the Lets Roll: World Trade Center Occupancy FOIA * 1972-2001, the semi-official list of Port Authority tenancy, the Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co., occupied the full 16th floor in WTC 1, a.k.a. the North Tower. [20] Its lease for "Suite 1601" started on March 1, 1996 and ran until February 28, 2006. When they relocated they were just six months past the lease's half-way mark. There is no mention of the tenancy from the prior 20 years, nor is space on any other floor indicated.

The most complete and widely disseminated tenants list, maintained by CNN, lists "Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co." as occupying 10,000 s.f. on the 17th floor. No mention is made of any one occupying the 16th floor on the CNN's List of World Trade Center tenants.

Zim spokesperson Dan Nadler said in The Jerusalem Post on Sept. 13: "When we watched the pictures, we felt so lucky. Our entire US operations were run out of the 16th floor." [1]

Various news sources put the number of Zim employees working in the WTC between "at least 110," [3] and 250. [15]

Some news sources said Zim-Israel had "completed its move"..."[t]wo weeks before terrorists attacked the WTC's twin towers," [13] while others said Zim "had moved its headquarters out of the World Trade Center in New York to Norfolk a week before the Sept. 11 attacks." [14]

In a sad bit of controlled opposition, the Arab American News on Oct. 8, 2005 wrote:

This is not the only coincidence that has to do with Israel. According to a story by the American Free Press, a shipping company vacated its rented offices on the 16th and 17th floors of the north tower of the World Trade Center shortly before the September 11 disaster.

The company is Zim American Israeli Shipping Co, Inc. The parent company, Zim Israel Navigation Co., is nearly half-owned by the state of Israel. The office space had been leased until the end of the year and the company lost $50,000 when it suddenly pulled out. [19]

However, Zim still had four-and-a-half years left to run on their trade center lease when Shaul Cohen-Mintz, president of Zim-American Israeli Navigation Co., "left his office on the 16th floor of World Trade Center's north tower" for relocation to Norfolk Va. "Like other steamship lines, Zim moved out of the building to reduce operating costs, although it still is listed as a tenant." [10]

"Zim [had] invested $6.2 million in the relocation," [12] not including their continuing obligation to pay a full-floor rent in the trade towers, or, apparently, taking the additional 10,000 s.f. space on the 17th floor. Given the half-empty status of the trade towers, it's unlikely any sub-leases could have been effected advantageously.

In his first post-attack interview on Sept. 13, Cohen-Mintz said "We have people remaining in New York, but none in the Trade Center...All of them are home and safe." [10]

But by the time of the October 18, 2001, The Journal of Commerce article, Zim Opens New Headquarters, this unequivocal statement that Zim had abandoned the trade center has morphed to Zim

occupied the sixteenth floor of One World Trade Center, and still had 20 people working out of that office, although only 10 were there on the day of the attack. [12]

and in an article four days later:

Although the company still had a staffed office in the twin towers at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks, all of Zim-American's employees there that day escaped harm. [13]

Since a 50,000 full-floor in the trade towers would surely cost in the vicinity of $1 million annually, two late November articles in trade publications attempt to put a public face on what logically had been an abrupt change of plans. In the Real Estate Weekly, Hunter retained for Staten Island office project,

Serving as Owner's Representative for Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co., which included the relocation of 250 people on Sept. 5 from the 16th floor of the World Trade Center to newly built headquarters in Norfolk, VA, Hunter Management has now been retained to implement the build-out of a 5,000-SF office in Staten Island for the 35 staff members who remained in the New York offices and escaped the Sept. 11 attack, announces James Pirot, principal of Hunter Management Corp.

The New York staff, which comprises the shipping company's Northern District Sales & Marketing Department, will move into its new offices at the Nicotra Group Development Complex in Staten Island in early January 2002. The department was originally slated to occupy a portion of Zim-American's 45,000-SF office at the World Trade Center, and the balance of the space was to be subleased.

Since the attack, the group has been located in the company's Elizabeth, N.J. offices.

Zim-American has taken a ten-year lease at the Staten Island office, which was negotiated by Hunter Management. [15]

Zim-american israeli shipping Co. made a big move out of the World Trade Center to Norfolk, Va., just one week before the complex was destroyed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. But the firm left behind a sales and marketing department of 35 people, in order to maintain a presence in New York City.

Fortunately, the entire staff made it out of Zim's 1 World Trade Center office alive. Now the company is building a new office for them on Staten Island.

The shipping firm signed a 10-year lease for 5,000 square feet at 1000 South Ave., in an office complex called the Corporate Park of Staten Island. The asking rent was in the low $20s per square foot. The building is located in an empowerment zone, which means Zim gets city tax breaks that will cut its cost of occupancy by 8% to 12%.

Zim chose this Staten Island site as its new home because it will afford the sales staff quick access to customers in the ports of both New York and New Jersey-and because the price was right, says James Pirot, a principal at Hunter Management Corp. Zim felt that downtown Manhattan rents were too high and that many Jersey locations it looked at were too far away.
Mr. Pirot represented Zim in lease negotiations with the owner of 1000 South Ave., The Nicotra Organization. Mr. Pirot is also overseeing the construction of the new office.

The work is scheduled for completion in mid-January. Until then, the sales department is housed temporarily in Zim's Port Elizabeth, N.J., office. The shipper plans to close this Jersey facility when its Staten Island location is ready for occupancy and relocate everyone to Nicotra's property.[16]

If the 10,000 square foot figure mentioned in the CNN tenant's list represented what Zim meant to indicate publicly as their New York business foothold, then the 5,000 square feet in the Nicotra Group's development on Staten Island would amount to a toehold.

But lest we think Zim wasn't hurt by the attack, their new hometown newspaper, The Virginian-Pilot, informs us:

Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. had moved its headquarters out of the World Trade Center in New York to Norfolk a week before the Sept. 11 attacks that brought both buildings to the ground.

But the American arm of Zim Israel Navigation Co., the world's ninth-largest cargo shipping line, left a vital piece of its operation on the north tower's 16th floor.

Zim-American had planned to move its computer and communications systems to Norfolk later to avoid the confusion of moving both its headquarters and its electronic systems at once, said Shaul Cohen-Mintz, Zim-American's president. [14]

I think it would have been more confusing to have left the "computer and communications systems" at the mercy of the "shipping company's Northern District Sales & Marketing Department," but be that as it may.

Whatever the relative fortune or misfortune of his company, Cohen-Mintz attributes it to his higher power:

"I don't know if it is a question of luck, but being a Monday-morning quarterback, I feel lucky and have to thank God for this," Cohen-Mintz said Wednesday. [10]

"However, God had his own plan and it dictated our destiny," Cohen-Mintz told about 250 attendees at the Virginia Conference on World Trade at the Williamsburg Marriott on Thursday. [14]

But his human emotions seem lacking:

Though shocked by the reports of the terrorist attack, Cohen-Mintz did not spend Tuesday glued to the tube -- there is no television in the company's office, and the company spent the day tending to business.

Nevertheless, it was an emotional day, he said.

"It was a very sad, very bad day for America; not just for America, but for humankind, the whole world," Cohen-Mintz said. "Things will change: What was, is no longer going to be." [10]

Maybe that has something to do with his personal values, or corporate morals:

Germany's impounding of Israeli military equipment headed for Iran points once again to the shadowy relations some Israeli companies have with the Islamic republic, a country the Jewish state has often branded its worst enemy.

Tehran, with whom Israel severed diplomatic relations during the 1979 Islamic revolution, dismissed allegations it was involved with the Zim-Anvers, [and] the Israeli company PAD, headed by Avihai Weinstein, 34,

According to the top-selling Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, the shipment was to be transferred in Hamburg on to the Iran Bakri cargo carrier and shipped to southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.

In July 1998, Nahum Manbar was sentenced to 16 years in prison over spying and treason charges for having sold chemical weapons to Iran.

The most notorious case of the shadowy relations between the two countries was the "Irangate" scandal which broke in 1986 over the secret financing of the anti-Sandinista Contras guerrilla in Nicaragua through arms sales to Iran with Israel acting as an intermediary.

The mastermind of the operation was Israel's ex-military attache in Iran, Yaacov Nimrodi, who also supervised the Jewish state's armament trade with Iran throughout the war, after which then prime minister Shimon Peres replaced him with his own adviser, who later died in a mystery plane crash in Mexico. [17]

JERUSALEM (September 13) - More than 200 workers at Zim Israel Navigation Company counted themselves lucky Tuesday, having been moved out of their World Trade Center offices by the company just two weeks ago.

At the same time, Israeli company ClearForest, whose international headquarters were located in the 47th floor of One World Trade Center, reported that none of its staff was hurt when the building collapsed.

"When we watched the pictures, we felt so lucky," Zim spokesperson Dan Nadler said. "Our entire US operations were run out of the 16th floor."

Zim left so recently that CNN, on its Web site, still lists the company as one of the businesses in the WTC.

Zim moved its US corporate headquarters to Norfolk, Virginia. "The aim was to save on rent," said Nadler. "We bought a modest building instead of paying New York rates."

Nadler said the company is unaware of any other Israeli firms in the building, but said he is sure "there are other Israelis working there."

Meanwhile, Sigal Srur, ClearForest's director of human resources, said that four or five of the company's 18 workers were in the building when it was hit. "They got out at the last minute, and two who were lightly injured with scrapes have already been discharged from the hospital," she said from the company's Or Yehuda R&D offices.

According to Srur, the company lost "mostly marketing and business development material. Luckily, unlike many US companies which were totally wiped out, our R&D is here, so all of our technology is here."

She said that the company is already looking for temporary offices in New York and emphasized that the company's new permanent offices be located in New York.

Nov. 27--In a major coup for New York, a giant shipping company said yesterday it would shift much of its business to Brooklyn from New Jersey -- snaring more than 200 jobs for the borough.

The move by Zim American-Israeli Shipping Co. will give a boost to the once-teeming Brooklyn waterfront, which has struggled for the past 25 years as more and more ships moved to modern containerports across the Hudson.

Zim is transferring its North and South American freight traffic to the Red Hook Marine Terminal from Port Elizabeth, N.J.

The relocation means 107 new longshoremen's jobs will come to Brooklyn, where Zim joins forces with shipping partner Pan American Lines that already has more than 100 jobs in Red Hook. Pan America initially had considered fleeing the city to join Zim in New Jersey. But instead, the Giuliani administration persuaded Zim to join Pan Am in Red Hook, officials said.

To seal the deal, the city is giving Zim a three-year $1.1 million incentive package that is tied to the amount of containers the company brings to the harbor.

Charles Millard, president of the city's Economic Development Corp., said it was worth the incentive money to lure Zim's 107 new jobs because New York has to fight aggressively to stay competitive in the shipping industry.

"Those 100 jobs had the potential to make or break what was going on in Red Hook," Millard said. "But it's not just those 100 jobs, it's the whole industry and the next step in the growth of the Port of New York."

Millard noted the Red Hook containerport, which had just 200 jobs and handled 18,000 containers in '93, now boasts 500 jobs and expects to handle more than 60,000 containers this year.

"We've proved we can retain business as well as attract business," said Chris Ward, director of business development for American Stevedoring, which runs the Red Hook Marine Terminal. "We've proved Brooklyn can be competitive in bringing cargo back to New York, which everybody said you could never do."

A good news/bad news situation is coming in 1997 for New Jersey's transportation systems--the lifeline for business and jobs. The good news is that the planning and financing put in place during the past two years will ensure that construction will continue on some older projects and work will begin on several major new ones. The bad news is that other states will be trying to get a slice of the federal transportation funds now earmarked for New Jersey.

New Jersey voters in the past two years have given the state government important tools to finance transportation infrastructure. In 1995 they approved the renewal of the transportation trust fund, which dedicates a significant portion of the tax on fuels to capital projects. Then in 1996 voters approved the plan to spend $185 million dredging the state's harbors, which faced the very real danger of shutting down.

The N.J. Department of Transportation's fiscal 1997 capital budget of $1.91 billion, the largest on record, appropriated $1.045 billion for highways, $611 million for NJ Transit, $25 million for other modes of travel and $229 million for assistance with local projects. The state transportation trust fund is providing 55% of the funding, while the fed pays 44%.

Threatening the state's transportation industry, though, is the possible reduction of federal funding for capital improvements. Groups from southern and western states have organized coalitions to rewrite the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) funding formulas to increase their share at the expense of New Jersey and other northeastern states. The battle over those funds will begin in January in Washington, when Congress begins to reauthorize the ISTEA. The funds are now primarily used to match state funds for capital spending on transportation. Phillip Beecham, president of the New Jersey Alliance For Action, warns that any loss of ISTEA funding "would severely impact what could be done in New Jersey in the future." Myron P. Shevell, chairman of New England Motor Freight in Elizabeth, who also serves on NJ Transit's board of directors, concurs, saying, "I can't overemphasize how critical it is that New Jersey's ISTEA share stays as it is Improved rail access in the southern part of the state including a possible direct connection at Trenton for NJ Transit's Atlantic City trains could be threatened by cuts in New Jersey's ISTEA funding.

NJ Transit and the NJ DOT achieved a major breakthrough in 1996 by establishing the Hudson Light Rail as the nation's first Design-Build-Operate-Maintain transit project. The long-planned, 20-mile project will run from Ridgefield to Bayonne. The federal government will be spending $604 million on the project, and work will begin in 1997. It should be operating by 1999. That project is expected to boost future development and jobs in Bayonne, Jersey City and Hoboken. Another big Northern New Jersey project is the continuing construction on the new NJ Transit Secaucus Transfer Station at the junction of three major rail transit lines.

Newark International Airport is scheduled to see the development of a direct connection from the People Mover monorail to the Amtrak/NJ Transit Northeast Corridor rail line. In addition, new contruction will start in 1997 on air cargo facilities at the airport. Scandinavian Airlines and Virgin Atlantic have signed leases for 150,000 sq. ft. in the first 192,000-sq.-ft. cargo building.

The future prospects for Port Newark-Elizabeth appear brighter in 1997 thanks to voter approval of a bond issue to pay for solutions to the immediate dredging problems. More delays are likely, but shipping industry sources are emphatic that actual dredging work must get well underway during 1997. Environmentally clean material can still be disposed of at the offshore Mud Dump during 1997, after which time the site will be permanently closed. Approvals for another big project, the deepening of ship channels, are expected to move forward during the spring of 1997, and actual work should start in 1998.

Brian Maher, president of Maher Terminals located in the port, says that improved land access to port operations for the thousands of trucks serving the piers should have a high priority in 1997. Retail development in the port area is already impeding port truck traffic. Transportation planners are expected to announce several new projects to speed the movement of intermodal container truck traffic to and from the docks. The plans will include use of abandoned or underutilized railroad right-of-ways between the port and outlying railroad freight yards. Dedicated truck roadways could allow direct connections from the port to Route , while removing major truck traffic from local roads.

The health of New Jersey's and the region's economy is closely tied to the viability of the port. A turf war is erupting, however, as New York City goes after shipping business that is currently using New Jersey facilities. In the latest move, Zim American-Israeli Shipping accepted a three year, $1.1 million incentive package from New York City to move a portion of its intermodal container traffic and jobs from Port Elizabeth to Brooklyn's Red Hook Marine Terminal. The incentives, which are paid for with New York City economic development funds, would reportedly be based on the volume of container traffic diverted to Brooklyn. Says Maher: "It's like a declaration of war."

At this critical period, New Jersey will be losing its transportation commissioner, Frank J. Wilson, who has already announced that he is stepping down at the end of December. John Haley, Jr. has been nonimated to fill the position. Haley has a strong mass-transit background and is currently a deputy executive director of the Port Authority. He has a lot to tackle in 1997.

ZIM Renews Port Of Savannah Contract.(Statistical Data Included)Israel Business Today; July 1, 2000; 536 words ...Authority (GPO) officials are pleased to announce that ZIM-American Israeli Shipping Company, one of the largest and most...Savannah. According to Walt Mitchell, vice president forZIM-American Israeli Shipping Company's South Atlantic Distri

Norfolk, Va.--A major international shipping line is expected to announce the relocation of its North American headquarters from New Jersey to Norfolk on Monday.
The city and state have scheduled a "major economic development announcement" by Gov. Jim Gilmore for 4 p.m. Monday at the Town Point Club in the World Trade Center in Norfolk.

Sources in the maritime community said the company is Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. Inc., the North American unit of Zim Israel Navigation Co. Ltd., the world's 10th-largest shipping line.

"We're not going to comment on anything or confirm anything," said Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim.

City economic development officials could not be reached for comment. Jill Lawrence, spokeswoman for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, declined to comment.

The state likely will provide some incentives for the company's relocation.

In an e-mail urging members of the Hampton Roads Maritime Association to attend Monday's announcement, J.J. "Jeff" Keever, the association's executive vice president, called it "the relocation to Norfolk of major corporate headquarters which will be of great significance to the maritime community."

Keever could not be reached for comment.

The city has focused some of its economic development effort on attracting more companies in the maritime industry, given the region's position as the No.2 port on the East Coast behind New York.

The city is already headquarters to one shipping line, Maersk Line Ltd., a subsidiary of Denmark's A.P. Moller Group, one of the world's largest shipping firms and parent of Maersk Sealand.

A relocated headquarters likely will mean the transfer of some high-paying jobs to Norfolk.

A real estate source said the company is having a 30,000- to 40,000-square-foot building developed in the Lake Wright Executive Center. The source said CB Richard Ellis of Virginia Inc. is handling the deal.

J. Scott Adams, CB Richard Ellis' Hampton Roads managing director, confirmed that a company relocating to the area will be taking a building in the Lake Wright Executive Center to be developed by Gee's Group. Adams said he did not know the company's name.

Patrick Gill, vice president of investment sales for CB Richard Ellis, represented the company in its local site search, Adams said.

Neither Gill nor Gee's Group officials could be reached for comment.

Zim-American is currently headquartered in Elizabeth, N.J. The shipping line operates 80 vessels, including 23 container ships.

NORFOLK -- Norfolk scored a major economic development victory Monday, taking a corporate headquarters from New York City.

With great glee, Gov. Jim Gilmore confirmed Monday that the North American headquarters of Zim Israel Navigation Co. Ltd., the world's ninth-largest shipping company, will be moving to Norfolk from New York.
Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. Inc. will be relocating from the 16th floor of the World Trade Center I in Manhattan to a new $6.2 million building in the Lake Wright Executive Center.

The company expects to open its new building by Sept. 4 and will eventually employ 235 people with an average annual salary of at least $35,000 in Norfolk.

"While many other shipping companies have moved across the river to New Jersey, Zim looked nationally for the location best meeting our long-term business needs," said Shaul Cohen-Mintz, Zim-American's president, in a statement. "Norfolk emerged as an extremely attractive location."

Gilmore and other state officials visited Norfolk on Monday afternoon to make the announcement in the Town Point Club at Norfolk's World Trade Center. Gilmore delivered a $100,000 check from his opportunity fund to the city to be spent on site preparation for the company's new building.

The Gee's Group is building a 30,000- to 40,000-square-foot building at the Lake Wright park for Zim-American.

"Adding this corporate headquarters is just one more jewel in the crown of this great city," said Barry Duval, Virginia's secretary of commerce and trade.

Citing reports of a possible new Maersk-Sealand terminal in Portsmouth, the planned $61 million expansion of Metro Machine Corp., growing cruise ship calls at Nauticus and "now this," Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim said, "I think it says what a great place this is to do business."

Zim-American plans to transfer 30 to 35 executives and department heads to Norfolkand hire locally to fill other positions at the headquarters, said Nadav Kaplan, Zim-American's project manager for the relocation.

Kaplan said Zim-American began looking to move its headquarters in December 1999, starting with 129 cities. Norfolk was a finalist along with Houston and Richmond. Norfolk emerged as the victor after a February tour of the finalists by executives of the Israeli shipping company, he said.

Kaplan cited Hampton Roads' "talented work force" and cost of living as key factors in the company's decision.

"The availability of trained people here is unique," said Kaplan, citing the large numbers of exiting military personnel. "We were sure the best people could be recruited, hired and retained here."

Norfolk also offered a vital "cultural fit" for Zim, Kaplan said.

"The whole community pulled together for this," said Keith A. Norden, vice president of marketing for the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance.

Norden particularly credited the region's Jewish community leaders and arts and cultural leaders for assistance.

Zim-American is transferring all of its key functions to Norfolk, including marketing, accounting and information systems.

"We stayed more than 25 years at the same building in New York," Kaplan said. "Our plans regarding Norfolk are much longer."

Founded in 1945, the shipping line got its start carrying about 1 million Jewish refugees from Europe to Israel. It has since grown into the world's ninth-largest shipper, with 84 ships.

The line has been calling in Hampton Roads since 1985. It operates a South American service that calls in Norfolk and cooperates with China Ocean Shipping Co. on a service to Asia via the Mediterranean Sea.

Zim, which is 48.6 percent owned by the Israeli government, had $1.8 billion in shipping related revenue last year.

The company's relocation to Norfolk will have ripple effects throughout Hampton Roads. Not only will it boost Norfolk's tax base, but it will add to the number of highly compensated workers in the region, which helps home and retail sales and charitable organizations.

Laura Ross, a relocation specialist with William E. Wood & Associates Realtors, is working with the company to help it bring its key employees from New York City to Hampton Roads.

"Our job is to partner with the company to get their key people here," Ross said. "If we sell a few homes in the process, that's good too."

Development officials in Norfolk have been targeting maritime-related businesses for some time, playing off the region's position as the East Coast's second-largest port.

"Norfolk is the ideal location for just this type of operation," said Roderick S. Woolard, Norfolk's development director. "This deal marries a strategic asset, Norfolk International Terminals, to a North American headquarters operation."

"It announces that Norfolk is a place for corporate headquarters within the maritime trade,'' Woolard said. "Now that we've got No. 9, we can go after the others. These companies do tend to cluster. We're actively recruiting several more."

Seeking to lower its costs, Zim- American Israeli Shipping Co. is moving its North American headquarters to Norfolk, Va., from its longtime base at the World Trade Center in Manhattan. The move means a loss of at least 110 jobs.

"It will be cheaper in Norfolk, and more comfortable," says Zim President Shaul Cohen-Mintz. He declined to specify the savings.

Zim-American-whose parent company, Zim Israel Navigation Co., is half-owned by the Israeli government-will transfer between 35 and 50 upper-level managers to southern Virginia, which is an active shipping center for the company. About 75 employees will stay on at a northern New Jersey district office to be established this summer.

The remaining 75 or so headquarters employees will be laid off by September.

Based at the trade center since the early 1970s, the Zim-American corporate office was experiencing a rise in workforce costs. Rising rent wasn't an immediate concern-several years remain on the lease-although it was expected to increase in the future.

The cost of living in southern Virginia is significantly lower and the new headquarters is close to the major Norfolk port, which is a leader in Midwestern cargo shipment. In addition, the governor of Virginia approved a $100,000 site-improvement grant for the new offices.

"I'm not blaming anyone for the move," says Mr. Cohen-Mintz. "Asking me why we're leaving is like asking the last horse in the stable after 50 other horses have left."

A number of other large shipping companies active in New York, including Sea-Land and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, moved out of the city to northern New Jersey in the 1980s. A group of tanker companies relocated to southern Connecticut in the 1970s.

Zim-American ranks in the top 10 in volume among the carriers at the Port of New York & New Jersey, behind Maersk Sea-Land, Evergreen International, and P&O Nedlloyd. It is expected to maintain its current level of cargo traffic in the port.

Attorney general eliot Spitzer is conducting a number of low-key fund- raisers around the state in an effort to build an early fund-raising advantage and prepare himself for the possibility of a marquee Republican opponent next year, such as Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

One event is a May 7 $250-per-person fund-raiser at the North Syracuse home of former Assembly Majority Leader Michael Bragman. The choice of Mr. Bragman, whose career in the Assembly is all but over after a failed coup attempt against Speaker Sheldon Silver last year, is seen as a message that Mr. Spitzer considers himself independent of Democratic Party factions.

Insiders also say Mr. Spitzer feels a debt to Mr. Bragman for his help during the attorney general's 1998 election win.

PLANT SITING

The Pataki administration won a big victory two weeks ago when a state appellate court unanimously upheld the state's power plant siting law.

The ruling came in a challenge to the first plant certified under the state's new Article X siting rules. The plant has been proposed for upstate Athens, along the Hudson River, by a subsidiary of Pacific Gas & Electric.

The Albany-based Appellate Division upheld the right of the state's siting board to override local zoning laws when it approves new plants. Community activists who brought the suit had argued this authority violated the state Constitution.

CUOMO CRITICIZED

A new report is slamming former federal Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo's much-publicized efforts to use federal funds to revitalize Erie Canal communities in upstate New York.

An audit by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says Mr. Cuomo's $100 million project created only 153 jobs, not the 1,336 jobs it was supposed to generate. The audit says that only $24 million was actually spent over the four years, that many grantees did not comply with federal rules and that there was poor HUD oversight of the program.

A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, who is running for governor in 2002, says the audit is a "political report riddled with inaccuracies." He also says delays in the program were caused by the Pataki administration's slowness in issuing building permits.

HEALTH TAXES

New York health insurers last year paid $1.3 billion in taxes related to private insurance premiums and certain health services, according to a new report by the New York State Conference of Blue Cross and Blue Plans. The levies are the fourth-largest tax revenue generator for the state, after personal income tax, sales tax and the corporation franchise tax.

ZIM INCENTIVES

Giuliani administration officials say an incentive deal with Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. will not be affected by Zim's decision to move its headquarters from New York City to Norfolk, Va.

A spokeswoman for the city Economic Development Corp. says the 1996 deal is based on how many cargo containers Zim brings to the city-owned Red Hook Container Terminal in Brooklyn, not where its headquarters is located. Zim announced earlier this month that it was moving its headquarters out of the World Trade Center, which will cost the city at least 110 jobs.

Under the deal, which was renewed two years ago, the shipping firm was given up to $1.2 million in credits on terminal fees for containers it brings to Red Hook.

BERMAN'S PLAN

Councilman Herb Berman, a candidate for city comptroller, has proposed that the city pay off $3.2 billion in Municipal Assistance Corp. bonds four years early in order to free up money for the city's capital budget. The idea is now under discussion with the Giuliani administration.

MAC bonds, which were originally sold to get the city through the fiscal crisis in the 1970s, are scheduled to be paid off by 2008.

Under the plan, MAC would use its accumulated reserve funds to help pay off the bonds by 2004 instead. That would free up about $500 million annually in city sales tax revenues. If that money were used to back new bonds, they would-like MAC bonds-attract a lower interest rate because they would be financed by a dedicated revenue source.

Hunter Management Corp. has been named Owner's Representative in charge of the relocation of Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. from its headquarters in New York's World Trade Center to a 45,000 SF office building soon to be under construction in the Lake Wright Office Complex in Norfolk, Va., announced James A. Pirot, Hunter Management's president.

Since accepting the fast-track project last month, Hunter has been involved in assisting with site location, selecting the development team of architect and general contractor, and developing strategic relocation plans for Zim-American employees, including an estimated 50 upper-level managers.
"This project allows Hunter to branch out with ownership/development services on a national basis," said. Pirot. "It is a terrific assignment that presents many challenges, not the least of which is to ensure that the site is completed for move-in by September 2001.

The Zim-American project encompasses intricate levels of tasking for Hunter. In addition to supervising the development of the site in Norfolk, Hunter is orchestrating the transition of the New York operations into the new offices without interrupting daily business. To that end, on behalf of the client, Pirot was asked to participate in early negotiations with the Gee's Group, the developer and leasing agent of the office park. He also worked with Zim-America's consultants, KPI Projects International, and the Hamptons Road Economic Alliance Corporation to secure incentives for the move, including a $100,000 state-approved grant for the new offices.

Norfolk Architect Randi Lyall, AIA, president of Lyall Design Architects, has designed a two-story, steel framed building with brick veneer in red and tan. The new corporate offices feature two wings anchored by a two-story high center atrium with soft-sculpted balcony. Situated on a corner site in the exclusive 225,000 SF office park, the new building will be easily accessible to the Interstate highway, as well as flanked by other prestigious office buildings.

Sep. 4--NORFOLK, Va.--Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co.'s new North American headquarters opens for business today in the Lake Wright Executive Center.

Zim, the world's ninth-largest shipping line, moved here from the World Trade Center in Manhattan to tap into the lower cost of doing business in Hampton Roads.

The company's new $6.2 million building, built by the Gee's Group, will eventually be home base for 235 employees.

"This concludes a most successful move to a brand new building that is designed for Zim's specific needs," said Shaul Cohen-Mintz, president of Zim-American.

The building will house the company's American marketing, operations, accounting, human resources, logistics and headquarters functions.

Zim-American transferred 23 executives and department heads to Norfolk and hired 150 people locally to fill other positions at the headquarters.

The company expects to hire more employees as the business expands.

Zim operates a multimodal shipping system that uses ocean, land and air transportation to provide door-to-door service for cargo shippers.

Zim's steamship line has called Hampton Roads home since 1985, when it relocated its mid-Atlantic load center from Baltimore. Zim ships call the port two times per week.

Initial planning for the move from New York began in December 1999. The company chose Hampton Roads over 128 other cities, including finalists Richmond and Houston, after executives of the Israeli shipping company toured Norfolk in February, said Nadav Kaplan, a consultant serving as Zim-American's project manager for the relocation.

"The idea was to improve service and cut costs," Kaplan said. "We found this place most favorable."

The city of Norfolk received a $100,000 grant from the Governor's Opportunity Fund to assist the city's Development Authority with site preparation.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance assisted Norfolk in the courtship of Zim.

Zim was incorporated in 1945 and bought its first ship in 1947. The German-Israeli reparation program helped Zim purchase 36 vessels in 1953.

The company operated primarily as a passenger line in the 1950s and 1960s, but as air travel grew, Zim got out of the waning passenger line business and in the 1970s invested heavily in the nascent container shipping business.

The Israeli government, which owns 48.6 percent of the company, is planning to sell its share.The government in July accepted four undisclosed bids from private companies. It is expected to allow the top bidder to start performing due diligence, allowing the potential acquirer to study financial data, later this month.

Any buyer would have to agree to let the Israeli government commandeer the fleet in the event of war.

The majority stake belongs to Israel Corp., a large Israeli holding company controlled by the Ofer Brothers Group, a privately held Israeli conglomerate.

Under the government's terms for the sale, Israel Corp. has the right to match the highest bid for the government's stake or to sell its stake, too, to the acquiring company, the Journal of Commerce reported.

The company's sale is not expected to have an immediate impact on the Norfolk office, Kaplan said. And while it's hard to predict what course a new owner might take, the company does not anticipate any impact for at least five years.

A spokesman said: "We're still taking stock of the tragedy. We are collating information on staff as we speak. The phones are ringing all the time with people registering themselves alive. We hope that flow will continue."

It was not clear today how many of the company's staff were at work yesterday morning but it is unimagineable that anybody could have survived the choking smoke and intense flames, and then the collapse of the building.

Shortly after 10am today the Foreign Office said that it had received around 2,000 calls to its emergency telephone number for people concerned about relatives in America since it opened yesterday.

A Foreign Office spokesman said it was too early to say how many British nationals might have been caught up in yesterday's attacks but acknowledged that it was "extremely likely there will have been British casualties".

He added that the Foreign Office's priorities would be helping survivors and informing relatives.

All the staff at the British Embassy in Washington and at the consulate general and United Nations mission in New York - several hundred people in all - had been accounted for. However, for businesses in the World Trade Center, the task of accounting for thousands of workers may take days, if not weeks.

London-based companies today confirmed British staff were working in the World Trade Center and surrounding office blocks when the planes struck. But none of them could yet say whether any had been killed or injured.

Firms with British employees include Merrill Lynch, American Express, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley. A spokeswoman for Lehman Brothers said: "We have a total workforce of around 5,000 people in New York.

Not all of them work in the World Trade Center but the majority do.

Some of them are British but it is a large mix of nationalities.

"We don't know if any of our employees are dead. We are hoping they're all going to report in safe this morning. We will not know for some time whether any of them were killed or injured."

Another firm, ESpeed, an electronic trading service, had offices on the 101st and 103rd to 105th floors, and employed 1,000 workers there.

Company chairman Howard W. Lutnick said: "All of our thoughts and prayers are with our New York colleagues and their families and friends at this time."

Morgan Stanley was the biggest single occupier, employing more than 3,500 in the South Tower with a tenth of the floor space. The investment bank has set up a free telephone line for Americans seeking information about workers after they were evacuated.

Deutsche Bank employs 300 people in the towers' lower offices, and Julien Studley, a real estate firm, was on the 88th floor.

Dozens of foreign companies had offices in the towers: Sinochem American Holdings of China; Japan's Nikko Securities; Germany's CommerzBank AG and Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. of Israel. Also in the complex were Bank of America, Bank of Yokohama, Bank of Taiwan and Fuji Bank & Trust.

Bank of America spokesman Scott Scredon said top officials from his company "weren't there".

He added: "No confirmation yet . . .on people who worked there."

Citigroup evacuated its workers in the plaza level of the World Trade Center, and in nearby buildings. Credit Suisse First Boston did the same.

ABM Industries Inc. employed more than 800 engineers, caretakers and lighting technicians around the building.

A spokesman said: "It is far too early for us to assess the human toll of this tragedy."

The twin towers of the World Trade Center could each hold 10,000 people. The 1,360 ft symbols of capitalism were part of a complex that included five smaller buildings. The centre opened in 1970 after an eight-year construction programme and was sold to developers in April for [pound] 3.2billion.

It housed a total 430 companies from 28 countries, with workers from Italy, France, Germany and Japan.

Some 50,000 people work there each day, and there are more than 70,000 visitors.

A Marriott hotel and 60 shops formed part of the complex and a restaurant, Windows on the World, offered fabulous views over the island.

Tower Two had two observation decks for tourists - on the 107th and 110th floors. Among the people who died in the aircraft that struck the twin towers was Berry Berenson, wife of the late actor Anthony Perkins.

Ms Berenson, 53, took Flight 11 to return to her Hollywood Hills home after a vacation on Cape Cod.

She was in the 1982 film Cat People, the 1979 movie Winter Kills and the 1978 film Remember My Name, which starred her husband. She also starred in the 1980 TV miniseries Scruples.

Ms Berenson, who had two grown sons, married Perkins in 1973. The actor, best known for his starring role as Norman Bates in Psycho, died in 1992 of AIDS. Today is the ninth anniversary of his death.

Other victims named from the hijacked planes' passenger lists include Georgetown professor Leslie A. Whittington, who was taking her husband, Charles S. Falkenberg, and daughters Zoe, 8, and Dana, 3, along on a fellowship she'd been granted in Australia.

Garnet "Ace" Bailey, a talent scout for the Los Angeles Kings ice hockey team, was aboard one of the jets that hit the World Trade Center. Mark Bavis, an amateur scout for the Kings, was also on the flight.

Daniel C. Lewin, 31, a technology executive and an officer in the Israeli Army, was en route from Boston to Los Angeles when his plane was hijacked and slammed into the World Trade Center. Lewin was the chief technology officer of Massachusetts-based Akamai Technologies Inc - a firm that used complex algorithms he developed to ease the routing of computer information.

NEW YORK -- As rescuers continued searching for survivors and the dead in the wreckage of the World Trade Center, tenants in the building did the same Wednesday.
Jeff Greenberg, chairman of the consulting firm MMC, said more than 1,000 people in its 1,700-person work force in the twin towers were safe, but others are still being sought.

"We are in touch with all the local hospitals and expect information from them," he said in a message on the company's Web site. "As we learn more about the status and whereabouts of our colleagues, we will let you know."

The company occupied 22 floors in the south tower, which was brought down by a terrorist attack Tuesday along with the north tower.

In a statement on the company's Web site, Purcell said the company will "resume full operations as exchanges and markets reopen."

The twin towers was home to such symbols of Western economic might as the Bank of America, Kemper Insurance, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Credit Suisse First Boston and Sun Microsystems.

Normally 50,000 people work in the twin towers, but the first attack came when many workers were not yet in their offices. Officials estimated that 10,000 to 20,000 people were in the buildings when the first plane crashed.

Jim Connelly, a spokesman for Fred Alger Management Inc., said 38 of its 235-person global work force was on the 93rd floor of one tower when it was struck by a hijacked airliner. They haven't been found.

Among the missing is David Alger, the company's president and founder Fred Alger's brother.

"The terrorist attack is a personal tragedy for my family as well as for all of our employees and their families," said Fred Alger, who has assumed leadership of the company.

Sun Microsystems, which leased two floors, said its 340 workers survived the attack, but Phil Rosenzweig, a director in its software organization was among those killed on American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the World Trade Center.

"Although we are relieved that our World Trade Center employees are safe, we are devastated by the tremendous losses that are being suffered," said Scott McNealy, Sun's chairman and chief executive.

The investment firm Lehman Brothers said it evacuated nearly 6,000 of its workers after the first plane struck the center. It had two floors in the north tower.

Chicago-based insurer Aon Corp. said 1,100 of its 50,000 workers had offices in the south tower.

Aon's chairman and chief executive, Patrick G. Ryan said the company is focusing on its "employees and their families."

Like other companies, Ryan said the company's New York offices will be closed until further notice.

Merrill Lynch said it evacuated its 9,000 workers from offices in the Financial Center and other offices in lower Manhattan, the company said.

Dozens of foreign companies had offices in the towers, including Sinochem American Holdings of China; Japan's Nikko Securities; Zim- American Israeli Shipping Co. of Israel and Cantor Fitzgerald International of London.

Cantor Fitzgerald, and eSpeed International, the electronic trading service which was spun off by Cantor, said they were still taking stock of the tragedy. Both companies had operations on the 101st and 103rd to 105th floors, and employed 1,000 workers there.

NEW York defiantly came out fighting yesterday with a pledge by its leading citizen to rebuild after the destruction of its tallest building by terrorists.

Rudolph Giuliani, the mayor of New York, said a plan would be devised for the city's "economic recovery".

At a news conference during which he said the city is preparing for a death toll in the thousands, Mr Giuliani added: "We're going to rebuild. We're not only going to rebuild, we're going to come out stronger than we were before, and in addition to having wonderful people in the city ... we also have the strongest business community of anywhere in the world, and we're going to call on them."

For many of those businesses with headquarters at the twin towers of the World Trade Centre, it was not business as usual as they began the arduous task of accounting for their workers.

The companies read like a who's who of the world's leading investment groups, including Bank of America, Kemper Insurance, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley Dean Whitter, Credit Suisse First Boston and Sun Microsystems.

As rescue workers began the task of searching through the rubble of the symbol of America's economic might, companies who had offices there, for the most part, refused to comment about their workers.

Officials estimated that 10,000 to 20,000 people were in the buildings when the first plane crashed.

Morgan Stanley, the investment company which has 62,000 employees worldwide, was the financial complex's largest tenant. Its 3500 workers based in the south tower worked on about 25 floors of the building. It said it had only "limited information" as to the fate of its employees.

Dozens of foreign companies had offices in the towers, including Sinochem American Holdings of China; Japan's Nikko Securities; Germany's CommerzBank AG; Zim-American Israeli Shipping Company of Israel; and Cantor Fitzgerald of London.

Detlev Rahmsdorf, a spokes-man for Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, said more than 300 people worked for them in the Trade Centre, in offices in the lower floors.

Ted Meyer, another Deutsche Bank spokesman, said the company is "working with the authorities to verify the safety of our employees."

He said the company's financial operations were being transferred to back-up facilities. Allianz, the German insurance giant, had about 300 people working in the building.

"They were all evacuated and they're all well," said a spokesman, Hubertus Kuelps, who refused to elaborate.

Cantor Fitzgerald, the brokerage firm, had offices on four of the top 10 floor of the north tower. A spokesman said yesterday that the company was still "taking stock of the tragedy".

For many of those working in skyscrapers around the world, there was surprise that both towers had collapsed just over an hour after they were hit.

Iain MacLeod, professor of structural engineering at the department of civil engineering at Strathclyde University said the buildings had held up well in an abnormal situation.

He said: "The buildings were able to take the shock of the planes hitting them and remain standing but the problem was the huge fire-loading.

"The planes would have most of their fuel still on board and when they hit the towers the fuel ignited and the intense fire melted the steel supports leading to the collapse of about three of four storeys and then the building above would have hit the lower part of the building andit just collapsed on to itself."

Sep. 13--NORFOLK, Va.--Not quite two weeks ago, Shaul Cohen-Mintz, president of Zim-American Israeli Navigation Co., left his office on the 16th floor of World Trade Center's north tower for good.

After 30 years in one of the twin towers, Zim opened its new headquarters in a Norfolk office park a week before American Airlines Flight 11, carrying 92 people, slammed into the company's former office building. The tower collapsed an hour later.

"I don't know if it is a question of luck, but being a Monday-morning quarterback, I feel lucky and have to thank God for this," Cohen-Mintz said Wednesday.

The company was the last shipping line to have offices in the World Trade Center -- once the heart of New York's shipping industry, but in recent years more a financial center.

Like other steamship lines, Zim moved out of the building to reduce operating costs, although it still is listed as a tenant.

"We have people remaining in New York, but none in the Trade Center," Cohen-Mintz said. "All of them are home and safe."

Though shocked by the reports of the terrorist attack, Cohen-Mintz did not spend Tuesday glued to the tube -- there is no television in the company's office, and the company spent the day tending to business.

Nevertheless, it was an emotional day, he said.

"It was a very sad, very bad day for America; not just for America, but for humankind, the whole world," Cohen-Mintz said. "Things will change: What was, is no longer going to be."

As rescuers continued searching for survivors -- and the dead -- in the wreckage of the World Trade Center, tenants in the building are doing the same thing. Jeff Greenberg, chairman of the consulting firm MMC, said more than 1,000 people in its 1,700-person work force in the twin towers were safe, but others are still being sought.

"We are in touch with all the local hospitals and expect information from them," he said in a message on the company's Web site. "As we learn more about the status and whereabouts of our colleagues, we will let you know."

The company occupied 22 floors in the south tower, which was brought down by a terrorist attack Tuesday along with the north tower.

In a statement on the company's Web site, Purcell said the company will "resume full operations as exchanges and markets reopen."

The twin towers was home to such symbols of Western economic might as the Bank of America, Kemper Insurance, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Credit Suisse First Boston and Sun Microsystems.

Normally 50,000 people work in the twin towers, but the first attack came when many workers were not yet in their offices. Officials estimated that 10,000 to 20,000 people were in the buildings when the first plane crashed.

Jim Connelly, a spokesman for Fred Alger Management Inc., said 38 of its 235-person global work force was on the 93rd floor of one tower when it was struck by a hijacked airliner. They haven't been found.

Among the missing is David Alger, the company's president and founder Fred Alger's brother.

"The terrorist attack is a personal tragedy for my family as well as for all of our employees and their families," said Fred Alger, who has assumed leadership of the company.

Sun Microsystems, which leased two floors, said its 340 workers survived the attack, but Phil Rosenzweig, a director in its software organization was among those killed on American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed into the World Trade Center.

The investment firm Lehman Brothers said it evacuated nearly 6,000 of its workers after the first plane struck the center. It had two floors in the north tower.

Chicago-based insurer Aon Corp. said 1,100 of its 50,000 workers had offices in the south tower. Aon's chairman and chief executive, Patrick G. Ryan said the company is focusing on its "employees and their families."

Like other companies, Ryan said the company's New York offices will be closed until further notice.

Merrill Lynch said it evacuated its 9,000 workers from offices in the Financial Center and other offices in lower Manhattan, the company said in a press release.

Dozens of foreign companies had offices in the towers, including Sinochem American Holdings of China; Japan's Nikko Securities; Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. of Israel and Cantor Fitzgerald International of London.

Cantor Fitzgerald and eSpeed International, the electronic trading service which was spun off by Cantor, said they were still taking stock of the tragedy.

Both companies had operations on the 101st and 103rd to 105th floors, and employed 1,000 workers there.

"All of our thoughts and prayers are with our New York colleagues and their families and friends at this time," said Howard W. Lutnick, chairman of both companies.

"In a very difficult and confused situation we are doing all that we can to determine more about the situations of colleagues.

CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS.(NORFOLK COMPASS)
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); September 27, 2001; 457 words ...Norfolk in securing the location of the headquarters of Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co., Inc. and authorizing the execution of a performance agreement between the city and Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co., Inc. Adopted, 7-0 Ordinance.

People.
Marine Log; October 1, 2001; 454 words ...Joseph Foto, director, gulf logistics, and Craig Burrus was named Liquid system planner. Philip Wright has joined Zim American-Israel Shipping Company, Long Beach, Calif., as its vice president of West Coast operations. He was formerly...

Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. today officially opened its new headquarters in Norfolk, Va., an event that has taken on new meaning because the company relocated from the World Trade Center only nine days prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attack."Naturally, no one is debating any more whether we had to move or not," said Shaul Cohen-Mintz, president of the company. "Some people said it was like an angel sitting on our shoulder."

Zim, the U.S. general agent for Zim Israel Navigation Co., the world's ninth-largest container line, occupied the sixteenth floor of One World Trade Center, and still had 20 people working out of that office, although only 10 were there on the day of the attack. All escaped to safety.

But Zim suffered heavy computer system losses, and for a number of days its electronic data interchange connections to business partners and the U.S. Customs' Automated Manifest System were down. "Our EDI group did miracles because within one week we had everything installed in Norfolk,"Cohen-Mintz said on Thursday.

Zim, one of the last steamship companies with its headquarters still in downtown Manhattan, in April announced plans to relocate to Norfolk. It built a 45,000-square-foot building in an industrial park a five-minute drive from Norfolk International Airport. Twenty-two senior management relocated with the company, as well as a number of others on a consulting basis. Cohen-Mintz said Zim plans eventually to build its staff up to more than 200 at its new headquarters, up from about 160 today.

Virginia is welcoming Zim with open arms. Zim benefited from a $100,000 grant from Gov. Jim Gilmore's Opportunity Fund to assist the Development Authority of the City of Norfolk for site preparation. Zim invested $6.2 million in the relocation, the governor said. Gov. Gilmore was scheduled to be present for the dedication ceremony on Thursday, as well as the mayor of Norfolk, Paul D. Fraim, and other city and state officials.

And Zim appears equally pleased to be there. Cohen-Mintz said the facility is "15 minutes from anywhere," in a quiet and scenic area with a "nice view. "

Last year, Zim was the 15th largest container line serving the U.S. market, handling about 450,000 TEUs, according to the Port Import Export Reporting Service (PIERS) of the Journal of Commerce Group. Like all container lines, Zim is feeling the effects of the economic slowdown combined with a cyclical surge of capacity, Cohen-Mintz said.

"Even if the market is growing by a few percentage points per year, the invasion of new tonnage creates very big pressure on the marketplace, and we see the results daily," he said. "Ships are not full, and there is pressure on rates."

Zim ships have been calling at Virginia Ports Authority terminals since 1985 when it moved its mid-Atlantic load center to Virginia from Baltimore. Zim currently makes two port calls per week.

Norfolk, Va., Terminal to Be Revamped.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News; October 19, 2001; 452 words ...attract new business and keep its momentum moving forward," said Gilmore, in town for a ceremony officially welcoming Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. to Norfolk. Zim moved its North American headquarters from the World Trade Center in New York...

STATE OKS NIT SOUTH FOR RENOVATION.(BUSINESS)
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); October 19, 2001; 415 words ...new business and keep its momentum moving forward,'' said Gilmore, in town for a ceremony officially welcoming Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. to Norfolk. Zim moved its North American headquarters from the World Trade Center in New York...

Oct. 22--NORFOLK, Va.--When Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. Inc. announced that it would move its U.S. headquarters to Norfolk, company officials had no idea of the fate in store for its former corporate offices at New York's World Trade Center.

Two weeks before terrorists attacked the WTC's twin towers Sept. 11, Zim-American completed its move to the Lake Wright Executive Center in Norfolk.

Gov. James Gilmore recently announced Zim-American, one of the largest container-shipping companies in the world, as the newest addition to Hampton Roads' international community.

"This will provide a great boost to the Hampton Roads area, in light of the recent economic shock due to the tragic events of Sept. 11," Gilmore said.

Company officials said in April that they would spend $6.2 million to build Zim-American's 45,000-square-foot headquarters, which will house 235 employees. Some of those workers are new local hires, while others made the move from the World Trade Center.

Although the company still had a staffed office in the twin towers at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks, all of Zim-American's employees there that day escaped harm.

Shaul Cohen-Mintz, president of Zim-American, said the company moved to Norfolk for several reasons.

"Zim moved primarily to better position ourselves to meet our customers' requirements, market needs and future challenges," he said. "While many of the other shipping companies have moved across the (Hudson) river to New Jersey, Zim looked nationally for the location best meeting our long-term business needs. Norfolk emerged as an extremely attractive location which met all of our targets. The area has many positive features."

Zim-American is the general agent in North America for Zim Israel Navigation Co., ranked among the top 10 container-shipping companies in the world. The company operates a large fleet of company-owned and chartered container ships that reach every continent and pull into hundreds of ports worldwide.

Gilmore approved a $100,000 grant from the Governor's Opportunity Fund to help the Development Authority of Norfolk prepare the site.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance and the City of Norfolk assisted the company with its decision to locate in Norfolk.

The Virginia Department of Business Assistance is providing work-force training.

October 26, 2001, Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News / The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA) Shipper Left World Trade Center for Norfolk Just Before Attacks, by Christopher Dinsmore, [14]
Williamsburg-- Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. had moved its headquarters out of the World Trade Center in New York to Norfolk a week before the Sept. 11 attacks that brought both buildings to the ground.

But the American arm of Zim Israel Navigation Co., the world's ninth-largest cargo shipping line, left a vital piece of its operation on the north tower's 16th floor.

Zim-American had planned to move its computer and communications systems to Norfolk later to avoid the confusion of moving both its headquarters and its electronic systems at once, said Shaul Cohen-Mintz, Zim-American's president.

"However,God had his own plan and it dictated our destiny," Cohen-Mintz told about 250 attendees at the Virginia Conference on World Trade at the Williamsburg Marriott on Thursday.

The annual conference hosted by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce brings together shipping and trade interests from around the state for three days of speeches, networking, round-table discussions and golf.

Exhibitioners included the obvious, such as the Virginia Port Authority and Maersk Sealand, which is poised to announce a major new terminal in Portsmouth, and the obscure, such as Austrian Airlines Group Cargo and the U.S.-Saudi Arabia Business Council.

Previous conferences have attracted as many as 600 attendees, but not nearly as many attended this year due to the economic downturn and terrorism-related travel fears.

Cohen-Mintz spoke to the luncheon on his company's decision to relocate its headquarters to cut costs and better serve its customers.

Zim selected Norfolk from a list of 139 communities after contact with state and local economic development officials. Cohen-Mintz particularly highlighted the help of the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance, Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim and Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore's office for being "very receptive and accommodating.''

But the lunch crowd was most riveted when Cohen-Mintz discussed the events of Sept. 11.

The Zim employees who remained behind escaped unharmed, but the shipping line's vital systems were obliterated.

"Our MIS team was able to miraculously rebuild our total communications and computer center for all North America in a few days, and we were back in business," Cohen-Mintz said.

Serving as Owner's Representative for Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co., which included the relocation of 250 people on Sept. 5 from the 16th floor of the World Trade Center to newly built headquarters in Norfolk, VA,Hunter Management has now been retained to implement the build-out of a 5,000-SF office in Staten Island for the 35 staff members who remained in the New York offices and escaped the Sept. 11 attack, announces James Pirot, principal of Hunter Management Corp.

The New York staff, which comprises the shipping company's Northern District Sales & Marketing Department, will move into its new offices at the Nicotra Group Development Complex in Staten Island in early January 2002. The department was originally slated to occupy a portion of Zim-American's 45,000-SF office at the World Trade Center, and the balance of the space was to be subleased.

Since the attack, the group has been located in the company's Elizabeth, N.J. offices.

Zim-American has taken a ten-year lease at the Staten Island office, which was negotiated by Hunter Management.

Zim-american israeli shipping Co. made a big move out of the World Trade Center to Norfolk, Va., just one week before the complex was destroyed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. But the firm left behind a sales and marketing department of 35 people, in order to maintain a presence in New York City.
Fortunately, the entire staff made it out of Zim's 1 World Trade Center office alive. Now the company is building a new office for them on Staten Island.

The shipping firm signed a 10-year lease for 5,000 square feet at 1000 South Ave., in an office complex called the Corporate Park of Staten Island. The asking rent was in the low $20s per square foot. The building is located in an empowerment zone, which means Zim gets city tax breaks that will cut its cost of occupancy by 8% to 12%.

Zim chose this Staten Island site as its new home because it will afford the sales staff quick access to customers in the ports of both New York and New Jersey-and because the price was right, says James Pirot, a principal at Hunter Management Corp. Zim felt that downtown Manhattan rents were too high and that many Jersey locations it looked at were too far away.

Mr. Pirot represented Zim in lease negotiations with the owner of 1000 South Ave., The Nicotra Organization. Mr. Pirot is also overseeing the construction of the new office.

The work is scheduled for completion in mid-January.Until then, the sales department is housed temporarily in Zim's Port Elizabeth, N.J., office.The shipper plans to close this Jersey facility when its Staten Island location is ready for occupancy and relocate everyone to Nicotra's property.

The Nicotra Group. (Leases).(Brief Article)
Real Estate Weekly; December 12, 2001; 193 words The Nicotra Group announced that Zim American Israeli Shipping Company has signed a 5,000 SF lease at the Corporate Park of Staten Island in Staten Island, N.Y. Jim Pirot...

Norfolk, Va.-Area Economic Alliance Reports Growth Despite Recession.
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); January 25, 2002; 700+ words ...coup for the alliance last year was the attraction of Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. Inc.'s headquarters from New...Navigation Co., the ninth-largest global shipping line, Zim-American built a $6.2million office in Norfolk that employs...

IN THE AREA: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BUCKS TREND.(BUSINESS)
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); January 25, 2002; 700+ words ...coup for the alliance last year was the attraction of Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. Inc.'s headquarters from New...Navigation Co., the ninth-largest global shipping line, Zim-American built a $6.2 million office in Norfolk that employs..

Fast Track: People on the Move.(Brief Article)
World Trade; March 1, 2002; 586 words ...associate vice president of terminal operations for SSAT; and Captain Phillip Wright, west coast vice president for Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. RELATED ARTICLE: Three Join FedEx Team FedEx Freight, the regional LTL next-and second...

CLASSES ON SHIPPING MAY BUILD WORK FORCE.(BUSINESS)
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); August 13, 2002; 700+ words ...have few options for getting them a starting knowledge of imports and exports, bills of lading and cargo movement. Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. faced such a challenge last summer as the company prepared to move its headquarters from New...

Norfolk, Va.-Based Maritime Trade Group Creates Class to Learn Trade.
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); August 13, 2002; 700+ words ...have few options for getting them a starting knowledge of imports and exports, bills of lading and cargo movement. Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. faced such a challenge last summer as the company prepared to move its headquarters from New...

Long Beach, Calif., Port Commissioners Drop Opposition to Truck Idling Bill.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News; August 13, 2002; 636 words ...We're grateful for what you did. You helped get the amendments that we needed." Phillip Wright of Pier C's Zim-American shipping line also thanked the commissioners, while calling the original version of the Assembly bill "poorly drafted...

Germany's impounding of Israeli military equipment headed for Iran points once again to the shadowy relations some Israeli companies have with the Islamic republic, a country the Jewish state has often branded its worst enemy.

Tehran, with whom Israel severed diplomatic relations during the 1979 Islamic revolution, dismissed allegations it was involved with the Zim-Anvers,the ship carrying the equipment which was seized in the northern port of Hamburg, as "complete nonsense".

The boat seized Wednesday was carrying rubber parts that could be used to make caterpillar tracks for tanks and armored vehicles, and German officials reportedly received intelligence it was headed to Iran instead of Thailand, as was claimed. The Israeli company PAD, headed by Avihai Weinstein, 34, had received "a legal export license for these products made in Israel upon its confirmation that Thailand was the final destination of the shipment," the defence ministry said in a statement.

"But German customs told us the final destination was Iran," the statement said, adding that the ministry had ordered a police investigation be launched.

Israel suspects Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons within the next several years and ranks it as one of its main strategic threats.

According to the top-selling Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, the shipment was to be transferred in Hamburg on to the Iran Bakri cargo carrier and shipped to southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.

The caterpillars are used on US-made M-113 personnel carriers, which both the Israeli and Iranian armies have in their arsenals.

Weinstein, speaking through his lawyers, swore he acted in good faith and claimed he had no way of knowing the final destination of his shipment.

The PAD chairman was detained the first time two years ago over a similar case which also involved his brother-in-law, Elie Cohen, suspected of having sold engines for troops carriers to Iran in 1996.

He was released a few days later for a lack of evidence.

Raphael Eitan, an adviser on terrorism for several Israeli governments between 1978 and 1985, told public radio Thursday it was impossible for Weinstein "not to know what the final destination of the shipment was."

"In this type of affair, there is no innocent contract. He knew the shipment was headed to Iran," he said.

His said he believed the Israeli defence ministry "was aware of the shipment's final destination, but could not refuse the export license and set up a trap" for Weinstein by alerting the German police.

There were many precedents of arms deals between Israel and Iran.

In July 1998, Nahum Manbar was sentenced to 16 years in prison over spying and treason charges for having sold chemical weapons to Iran.

Already under the Iran's former Shah's regime, Israel had strong links with non-Arab government in the form of military and trade alliances such as oil-for-arms arrangements against their common Arab enemy Iraq.

Against the backdrop of the 1980-1998 Iran-Iraq war, Israel continued to supply arms to Tehran when Ayatollah Khomeini took power and even after the 1979-1981 hostage crisis at the US embassy there.

The most notorious case of the shadowy relations between the two countries was the "Irangate" scandal which broke in 1986 over the secret financing of the anti-Sandinista Contras guerrilla in Nicaragua through arms sales to Iran with Israel acting as an intermediary.

The mastermind of the operation was Israel's ex-military attache in Iran, Yaacov Nimrodi, who also supervised the Jewish state's armament trade with Iran throughout the war, after which then prime minister Shimon Peres replaced him with his own adviser, who later died in a mystery plane crash in Mexico.

GREEN/DEISCHER.(CNY)
The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY); January 26, 2003; 343 words ...School, received a bachelor's degree from the State University College at Plattsburgh. She is a vessel manager for Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co., Norfolk, Va. The groom is a graduate of North Stanly High School and is a plant manager for...

-- Zim Israel Navigation, jointly owned by the government and holding company Israel Corp., said Tuesday it completed a $650 million plan to acquire 13 new container vessels from South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries.

Israel's national shipping company said orders for the final three ships were placed recently. All 13 freighters will be able to hold 5,000 containers, and together constitute Zim's "First Global Service, " which connects Haifa Port with the Western Mediterranean, the eastern and western coasts of the United States, Jamaica, and the far East.

Zim said the first of six ships were supplied during 2002, an additional one will be delivered in 2004, and the final vessel at the start of 2005.

The new ships will replace Zim's current fleet of 15 ships, each holding up to 3,400 containers. Zim executives claim the Hyundai ships will reduce the roundtrip time (Haifa to Haifa) from 105 to 91 days.

Once Hyundai Shipyards delivers the seven new ships (by 2005), 8 container vessels, currently in Zim's First Service, will be transferred to the company's Second Global Service. The route starts in the Adriatic, then heads to Haifa, Singapore, the Far East, and back to Haifa and the Adriatic through the Suez Canal.

Founded in 1945 by the Jewish Agency and Israel Maritime League, Zim started operations as the main transporter of immigrants to pre-state Israel.In 1953, under the German reparations program, Zim purchased 36 modern ships and launched a successful passenger line as well. Passenger services were ceased once air travel took over the market.

Today, Zim is one of the largest container shipping companies in the world.

Israeli Shipping Company to Bring Cargo Line to Tampa, Fla., Port.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News; August 28, 2003; 700+ words ...giant said it will bring a weekly cargo line to Tampa. Zim American Israeli Shipping Co. said it will begin to offer container...heads in a certain direction, others will follow." Zim American Israeli Shipping Co., which has headquarters in Norfolk..

Construction Set to Begin on Norfolk, Va., Office Building.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News; September 3, 2003; 700+ words ...is where the old baseball park for the Norfolk Tides once stood. Two multitenant buildings and a headquarters for Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. Inc. were the first three Gee's Group projects there. Lake Wright also is home to USAA...

NEW NORFOLK OFFICE LEASED BY CANCER PRACTICE.(BUSINESS)
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); September 4, 2003; 700+ words ...where the old baseball park for the Norfolk Tides once stood. Two multi-tenant buildings and a headquarters for Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. Inc. were the first three Gee's Group projects there. Lake Wright also is home to USAA...

French Shipping Firm Chooses Norfolk, Va., for North American Headquarters.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News; February 5, 2004; 700+ words ...credits the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance, in part, for luring the French firm. That group helped bring Zim-American Israeli Navigation Co. to Lake Wright from New York in 2001. Rigney said the Israeli company added $5 million to...

FRENCH FIRM WILL BRING N. AMERICAN HQ TO NORFOLK.(BUSINESS)
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); February 5, 2004; 700+ words ...credits the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance, in part, for luring the French firm. That group helped bring Zim-American Israeli Navigation Co. to Lake Wright from New York in 2001. Rigney said the Israeli company added $5 million to...

Boat sinks after collision with container ship in Mississippi River
Sunday Gazette-Mail; February 22, 2004; The Associated Press; 311 words ...injuries. The Zim Mexico III is registered in Antigua and Barbuda, owned by B. Rickmers GMBH Cie., and operated by Zim American Israeli Shipping Co., McCool said. The Lee III is one of six vessels owned by Ocean Runner Inc., an offshore supply...

Supply Boat Sinks After Miss. River Crash
AP Online; February 22, 2004; 445 words ...injuries. The Zim Mexico III is registered in Antigua and Barbuda, owned by B. Rickmers GMBH Cie., and operated by Zim American Israeli Shipping Co., McCool said. The Lee III is one of six vessels owned by Ocean Runner Inc., an offshore supply...

Search for Crew of Sunken Supply Boat Blocks Mississippi River.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News; February 23, 2004; 700+ words ...damaged. The Zim Mexico III, which sails under an Antigua flag, is owned by B. Rickmers GMBH&CIE and operated by ZIM-American Israeli Shipping Company Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. To see more of the Houston Chronicle...

Thomas M. Jurgonski.(Obituaries)(Obituary)
Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL); March 18, 2004; 321 words ...Class of 1985, and received his master's degree at Illinois Benedictine University in Lisle. He was employed by ZIM American Israeli Shipping for 10 years. Thomas was the beloved husband of 15 years to Kim; loving father of Anne and Ben...

Containers can sit on dock for only 4 days
Press-Telegram; June 21, 2005; Eric Johnson; 700+ words ...meaning the larger retailers had the privilege of longer storage. Philip Wright, West Coast vice president for Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co., made no bones about the deals, but said the ocean carriers don't shirk their responsibility...

Modest gains at Tampa port, after millions in investments.
St. Petersburg Times (St. Petersburg, FL); August 25, 2005; 700+ words ...don't think anybody told them it would be an easy fix." The port's only container shipper with global reach, Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co., has called on Tampa for the past two years. But its vessels make a circuitous route to three...

It has been over four years since the attacks of September the 11th shook the foundation of our country. Yet, there has never been a thorough and critical analysis of 9-11. The 9-11 Commission only superficially criticized our intelligence community for not predicting such an attack. Of course, our government immediately solved the mystery of who committed these acts. They told us that Arab hijackers carried out the plan, which was masterminded by Osama bin Laden. Yet, very little mention has been made of Israeli coincidences and 9-11.

The most recent suspicious activity has been reported in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The newspaper reported that Odigo, an Israeli instant messaging service, says that two of its workers received messages two hours before the Twin Towers attack on September 11 predicting that the attack would happen.

Odigo's headquarters are in New York, with offices in Israel. After the attack, Micha Macover, the CEO of the company, informed the company's management about the messages which immediately contacted the Israeli security services. It was only later that the FBI was brought in. No one knows who sent the messages.

This is not the only coincidence that has to do with Israel. According to a story by the American Free Press, a shipping company vacated its rented offices on the 16th and 17th floors of the north tower of the World Trade Center shortly before the September 11 disaster.

The company is Zim American Israeli Shipping Co, Inc. The parent company, Zim Israel Navigation Co., is nearly half-owned by the state of Israel. The office space had been leased until the end of the year and the company lost $50,000 when it suddenly pulled out.

During all the media hype about Arabs and bin Laden after 9-11, another story concerning Israelis never received much attention. On November 23, 2001, the Washington Post ran a story by John Mintz detailing how, along with the 1,000 or so Muslim Middle Easterners jailed after 9-11, 60 Israelis had been picked up and held.The Israelis were not being held on routine visa violations, but in connection with the September 11 investigation.

In one example, a group of Israelis was picked up by the FBI after being spotted in Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, laughing and high-fiving one another as the World Trade Center burned on the other side of the river.

A story from the Bergen, New Jersey Record (September 12, 2002) describes how five men-"Israeli tourists"-were picked up eight hours after the 9-11 attack, "carrying maps linking them to the blasts. Sources close to the investigation said they found other evidence linking the men to the bombing plot."

It was only later discovered that these men were Israeli intelligence agents. On December 11, 2001, Fox News ran the first in a series of investigative reports that blew the whistle on a vast Israeli spy network operating on American soil. Yet, these stories never received much attention.

As Fox News reported, "there is no indication that the Israelis were involved in 9-11, but investigators suspect that the Israelis may have gathered intelligence about the attacks in advance, and not shared it."

Mahmoud M. Awad is an attorney in private practice at Awad Law Office, PLLC. He can be reached at (313) 582-2400, or by email at awadlaw@hotmail.com.

5 ways to improve region's economy.
Daily Press (Newport News, VA); February 2, 2006; 700+ words ...said the alliance continues to try to recruit international shipping firms to build headquarters in the region, as Zim-American Israeli Shipping did recently. The region also is the 11th leading U.S. employer in the fishing and fishing products...

Tampa port's container business gets boost.
St. Petersburg Times (St. Petersburg, FL); April 12, 2006; 700+ words ...a major boost Tuesday with an Israeli shipper's announcement that it will begin weekly service from Asia in July. Zim American Integrated Shipping Service will sail its huge ships from China through the Panama Canal to Jamaica and three U.S...

ODU offers major in maritime management.
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); April 19, 2006; 611 words ...work for the port and maritime industries," Bagranoff said. In the past few years, CMA CGM (America) Inc. and Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. Inc., two of the world's largest shipping companies, have located their North American headquarters...

ODU offers major in maritime management.(Business)
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); April 19, 2006; 580 words ...work for the port and maritime industries," Bagranoff said. In the past few years, CMA CGM (America) Inc. and Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co. Inc., two of the world's largest shipping companies, have located their North American headquarters...

Fast boat from China.
St. Petersburg Times (St. Petersburg, FL); August 3, 2006; 700+ words ...Lauderdale or Savannah and trucked down here," said Richard Wainio, Tampa's port director. The new weekly service by Zim American Integrated Shipping Services should double the volume of the port's modest container cargo business in the next year...

VOA NEWS: ZIMBABWE DEPORTS TWO U.S. WOMEN MAKING DOCUMENTARY ON RAPE
US Fed News Service, Including US State News; August 23, 2007; 373 words ...work. Interview With Betty Makoni: http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/english/2007_08/Audio/ra/zim_american_deportations_23Aug07.ra Listen to Interview With Betty Makoni: http://www.voanews.com/english/figleaf...

Robin D. Sweigart
Sunday News Lancaster, PA; March 9, 2008; 189 words ...Hospital. Born in Ephrata, a son of Pierce D. and Mabel H. (Young) Sweigart, Denver, he was last employed with Zim American-Israeli Shipping, and had worked 20 years with Maersk Inc., both of Norfolk, VA. Earlier he worked for Dorma...

Irma G. Wiggins.(Local)
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA); February 24, 2009; 394 words ...business administration. Irma was a member of Mount Gilead Missionary Baptist Church, Norfolk and was employed by ZIM American Integrated Shipping Services Company Inc. where she was an export documentation phone representative. Irma leaves...

NORFOLK'S DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT.
States News Service; September 22, 2011; 421 words ...American headquarters of CMA CGM (America) LLC, the third-largest container shipping company in the world, and ZIM American Integrated Shipping, the fifth-largest container shipping company in the world, reside here. The nation's largest...

CITY OF NORFOLK'S DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
US Fed News Service, Including US State News; September 24, 2011; 447 words ...American headquarters of CMA CGM (America) LLC, the third-largest container shipping company in the world, and ZIM American Integrated Shipping, the fifth-largest container shipping company in the world, reside here. The nation's largest...